The present invention relates to a torque control apparatus.
Conventionally, a traction control system (TCS) is known in control of a vehicle such as an automobile or a motorcycle. A TCS performs control by detecting the spin-up (idle running) of the drive wheel of the vehicle and calculating the engine power (torque) for suppressing the spin-up, so that a driving wheel can efficiently transfer a force to a road surface.
Although there are many types of control methods using a TCS, slip control is known as a typical method. This slip control is a control method that determines the desired speed (target speed) of a drive wheel, reduces the engine power (torque) if the actual speed of the drive wheel is larger than the target speed, and increases the engine power (torque) if the actual speed of the drive wheel is smaller than the target speed. More specifically, PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) control is performed on the deviation between the target speed and the actual speed of the drive wheel.
As for this TCS, JP-A-2002-70709 discloses a technique for determining a state (wheelie state) in which the front wheel of a motorcycle is lifted up based on the detection output of an acceleration sensor provided in a motorcycle and, when the wheelie state is detected, reduces the engine power gradually. It is said that this technique can return the state of the front wheel from the wheelie state to the original state slowly.